Dry Eye in DC
July 16-17
Send a letter to your members of Congress for Dry Eye Awareness Month.
Dry Eye in DC
Dry Eye in DC is the Dry Eye Foundation’s annual Advocacy Day held in Washington, DC.
There’s still time to join us from July 16-17.
As an advocate, you’ll learn how to tell your dry eye story to raise awareness and advocate for patient priorities with your Congressional representatives.
“Many of the offices were unaware of the burden associated with Dry Eye Disease, not to mention the pain that often goes along wit the disease.”
- A 2025 Advocate
Learn More
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Dry Eye in DC starts with dinner and training on Thursday, July 16th. On Friday, July 17th, you’ll attend 3-6 meetings with all of the Congressional offices representing members of your small advocacy group. Your meetings will be scheduled from about 9:30am - 4:00pm. These meetings can be as short as 15 minutes. You’ll have time to briefly introduce yourself and share some of DEF’s asks for Congressional staff. Getting around the Capitol will require walking or taking a taxi, so please reach out if you need accommodations.
Schedule
Plan to arrive in time for dinner at 5pm on Thursday, July 16. Advocacy Day meetings will last until 4pm on Friday, July 17.
Thursday, July 16:
5-8pm: Welcome reception, keynote, dinner, training, and breakout sessions.
Friday, July 17:
7:30-8:30am: Breakfast and group meetings at hotel
9am-4pm: Advocacy Day Meetings
Break at 12pm for Dry Eye Disease Congressional Briefing and lunch
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You already have the lived experience needed to be an Advocate; you’ve likely had to advocate for yourself with doctors, employers, family, or friends. Many patients feel that dry eye isn’t taken seriously. By sharing your story, you can help make change. You’ll be standing up for all the dry eye patients, past, present, and future, who can't make it to DC.
Some people assume they are not brave or extraverted enough to join an Advocacy Day. We’ll be sure to provide you with training and support. By joining in person, you’ll meet fellow patients who will sit beside you in meetings. By the end of your first Advocacy Day, we hope you’ll want to come back for more. Becoming an advocate can be empowering.
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We will ask you a few questions about yourself, including any previous advocacy experience.
Once you submit your application, please schedule a short interview with Aidan.
Please allow us time to consider your application, and we will follow up by email.
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You can join a webinar or info session to learn more about dry eye advocacy. Or watch our previous webinar recordings.
By the time you come to DC, you’ll want to have prepared a 60-second introduction with your dry eye story that you can share in your meetings.
There is a mandatory virtual training session on Tuesday 6/23 at 2pm Pacific / 5pm Eastern. A link will be provided to registered advocates.
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We’ll be meeting at the Holiday Inn Washington DC Capitol (550 C St SW, Washington, DC 20024) and have a group rate of $239 per night plus tax. The hotel is a 15-minute walk from Capitol Hill. Book using group rate.
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As of 6/17/26 travel scholarship grants are currently ON HOLD. We have exceeded our current budget and we are fundraising to support more grants.
You may still apply for a scholarship to cover coach airfare, ground transportation, some meals, and up to 2 nights in a hotel. Due to budget constraints, DEF may not be able to fulfill your request.
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There will be NO Dry Eye Symposium this year (in-person or virtual).
Apply now
We will ask you a few questions about yourself, including any previous advocacy experience.
Once you submit your application, please schedule a short interview with Aidan.
Please allow us time to consider your application, and we will follow up by email.
From Dry Eye in DC 2025
"I felt very empowered to share my story and to advocate for meaningful change in the field of eye disease research and OTC safety."
"I feel my story was validated and accepted by all. We educated and asked for the power of their support. All were unaware of the growing problem and it’s affect on loss of productivity in US."
"If you're considering joining:
Don't be intimidated, you got this!
Do it, it makes a difference!
Do it to represent those who are in too much pain or discomfort to join!"
"It was a first advocacy day for DEF and as such it was very well run and support was excellent."
Hear from past advocates
Pam, Noah, and Chris share their experience at Dry Eye in DC 2025. They talked about how they prepared, what they expected, how Advocacy Day went, and advice to anyone who’s interested in participating this year.
"Totally recommend it. Adds a new purpose in one’s life along with support. Results in emotionally overcoming our individual helplessness and creates hope."
"I felt that the most of the staffers took our concerns seriously, which was appreciated."
"I loved my group and bonding over DES and OSD"
"Advocacy day could not have been better organized. We were given clear guidance regarding our meeting times and felt strongly supported."
"Take advantage of this empowering opportunity to leverage your hardships and story to potentially help so many others and to raise awareness of this increasingly common disease.”
About
Dry Eye in DC is hosted by The Dry Eye Foundation a dedicated “by-and-for-patients” organization for the dry eye community. This work began almost 20 years ago as DryEyeZone, the popular patient information platform and online forum started by DEF co-founder Rebecca Petris. As unmet dry eye patient needs continued to grow, in 2018 we incorporated as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization with a mission to improve quality of life for people with dry eye disease.
We’ve partnered with The Alliance for Vision Research, which hosts yearly Congressional Briefings, covering urgent topics like myopia, thyroid eye disease, and advances in retinal disease treatments. These events bring together researchers, clinicians, patient advocates, and policymakers to highlight cutting-edge discoveries and the need for sustained federal funding through agencies such as the National Eye Institute (NEI).
All Advocacy Day meetings are scheduled by a trusted 3rd party, Soapbox Consulting.